N.ltefl. n !J'rlbuDoe
15 11 ~5dar &3 _______
~~ P~ I 'C"~,~ bO"~'CL~O~ll ~_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
<;
Tomato farmers beg Bomo govt for good roads
TI
MATO fa nne:rsin Ha wul Local Covernm ent Area of Bo rno Sta te, ha ve appe3led to the sl<J \e gove rnment It) provi ~l e thl!rTl an
access road b evacuate their prudu re 10 the market. Alhaji Adamu Ali, the
spokesman fe t the fanners, m ~de the appeal recently in an in terview with the Ne'w ..; Ageng , of fo!igerin (NIf, I' I) al SabonKas u w a vill?ge ma rket in Ha w,,).
He S<1id farm ers in the a rea p rod u ,:ed la rge quan tities of tom atoes d aily, builln! most of the h a rvest il re -.vastcd beca u se of diff iculties in transporting the produce
to thcoty. ''TIle farmers produce large quan tities of lomatoes dai ly, especially d uring the rainy season. "An a vera ge fa rme r produces a m inimum of 10
bask'!ls daily, whjlc the commu ni ty p rodu ces hundreds o f baskets. but most of these get wasted fo r lilck of trans portatio n and I\to mge fa cililies,R he sa id . Ali sa id a m ini m um of 200 bas ke ts of lo mil loes wc rl' take n to S abo n Kasu wa ma rke l da ily . "The pro ble m is Ihal o nly abou l half of the produ ce is sold. the res t get wasled fo r lack of !Io ra ge fa ci lities. "Few buyers come from
ne igh bou ring to wns, like Go mbe. Damaluru and ' even Maidug uri, but the poo r c onditio ns o f th e ro ads discou ra ge the m from com ing regu larly: ' he said. Ali said lr.msport owners atlnbu ted the hike in the cost of transporting the produce to o ther areas 10 the poor condition of the road. . He urged government to provide s torage facilities fo r the farmers to ~h eck their losses. "The s tate gove rn men t should take ad va ntage of the la rge quantities of tom a toes produced in the area by establishing a to-m a to cottage indus try:' Ali said.
NIb agric loan: Ogun allays fear against favouritism T
he O g ul' Sta le go v e r nme n t has ill lay ed th e fe il rs o f fa rme rs in Ilw s late Iha t the re will no l l: e a ny fo rm of fa vo u ritism in d ete rm ining t hose e lig ible to benefi t from th'! N l billion Fede ra l Gov('mm€' nl ag riC\tltu rc loa n in Ihe s ta le. Th e S late Commis s io ner fo r Agri.u ltu fC, Mr. Ayo Ol u bori, in a s tale-me n t s ig ned by th e m inis try' s s p(.ke pe rson, Mi~s De boral. Od u la te. made a \'a ila l:olE' to the TribUill' A.':ricu lture, e xp lai ned that all classes o f fa rmen;:. including processors. would hn·e the opport u nit}, to tJ.·nefit from Ihe loan as lo " g as they meel a ll nec~ sary criteria. O lu bo ri said tha i any farmer tha t w ants to bene fi t from the lo~ n mus t be a me mber of a .:oopernt:i\·c society fo r no t 150S than s ix mo nt hs, and mus t bc a regis tered mem ber of a ny co mmod ity a ssoci a t io n und e r t he a e ~ i s of All Fa rme rs Assccia tio n o f Nigeria (A FAI"' ) and lIlus t also have a ban k. accou nt He si\id, "The N l billion Federal Govcrnment agric IOim is for 1'\ '. e ry one who is im 'o lved in any way with .Igri cullu re. Tl,ey Ilowever " ave to meet the la id dO \\' n crit e ri a w hich w o u ld ass u re the gO \'em ment th~t they a re ind eed int o ag ri c ultu re a nd the loa n ccllected will be lIse d 10 fu . ther Ihe ir pradice. thereby. ensuring food s ufficie \1':~' and jo b
crea tion. Whe ther an indiv i d u a l is a f.u m e r i n vo lved w ith the p la nting of crops. a food p rocessor that a dds va lue .to cro ps, o r into fabrication of mach ines n ee d e d for food process ing, they can a ll benefit from the loan." He ex r ia in('(.1 that this
- j;C:-,-
was necessa ry to ens ure Ihil l bene ficiari es did no t rega rd th e loan as Ihe ir s h are i n the " n a l io n a l ca ke ,N add ing tha t it was h is expecta tio n thai o nce fiumers bega n to a ccess Ihe loan. a gtiClllture w ill move fro m e nsuring food pro du c ti o n to be i ng a ve ritable tool fo r job creali o n and indus tria lis a tion.
M
A NY pra ctis ing {arme rs in Osu n S ta te- h a ve describe d the governo r o f the s ta te, M r RlI u f A regbesolil as a [ilrm ing lo vin g go ve rn o r, ju s t as lhey pro mised 10 g ive his adminis t ra ti o n the needed s u pport in o rde r 10 s ucceed. The farmers a lso s aid they decided to s pea k ou l the ir minds havi ng s tudied t he m oves and prog rammes of Osun State govern me nt me an t to develop th is importa nt secto r. They a lso lo ld Tribulle Ag ricu lture thal the re«'nt d is t ributio n o f over 600 bags of fe rtilisers to practising farme rs in the s tale, was an i n dica ti o n t h a i Governo r Aregl>esola led a d m in is tratio n in t he s late reil ily mean t well fo r farmers, st ress ing that " ' 0 w h o m m u c h is 'liven , d e fi n it e ly mu c h IS expected ." A gro u p o f farmers fro m to wns like Gho nga n, lIesha, lI obu , Ikire. Apo mu a n d Ed e w h o claimed 10 be beneficia ries o f the recently dis lributed fe rtili s e rs to ld Tribune Ag riculture lhat Ihey were happ y to h e a r. Ih a t fertiliser we re being give n to them d u ring the p lanting seaso n unlike what it used to be in Ihe pas t w he n they do n' t have access 10 e no ugh fe rtilis er d uri ng
,. - -.- - -,-------1
-h--.-· --r~-·
Farmers laud Osun govt over fertiliser distribution ~
the planting season. _ The fa rmers fu rther explai ned that theOsunsta te go ver nm e nt h a ve s u cceeded in breaking the jin.'( of farmers getling fertiliser a ft er the plan ting season.. add ing that t he p rogra m me o f Gove rno r Aregbesola on ag ricultu ra l d e ve lopme nt in the sla te w as no t o nly a welco me d e ve lo pme nt, but a n age ndil well prepa rro and p :l ck a ~ed befo re his assu mpllon of o ffi ce. One o f the fa rme rs, Mr O ili wole Ad eko l a tol d Tribune Ag ricultu re th" t fMm e rs in Ihe s t",te d e cided to vo ice ou l this time .. fo und becau sc ma ny o f the m were i mpressed with lhe tireless e ffo rts o f Gove rn o r Aregbes o la to m a ke the s tate n lead ing food bas ke t in the country. Ade kola also posiled that the state governme nt had made a r ra ngem ent with the lntemalio na l ins titute o f T ro pical Agricultu re (IITA) in Ibad an. to partne r wi th Osu n State in e ns uring speedy de"'elo pme nt o f ag ricultu re, ill. the sla le. 11 u~ fa rme rs, howe ver, called on Osun State gove rnme nt no t to fo rgel his
p ro mises I) f p ro vidi ng fa rmin g e qui pmenl like tractors, ploughers, hMto wers, ridge rs, imp roved seeds. a nd o the r agriculture input s so th a t they cou ld increase their p rodu ctio n cll pacity. Ano lhe r f;l rme r, Elder Seun Ogun w ale com me nded the sta le gov ern~ me n! on its de ve lo pmental age nda fo r ag ri culture in the s til te, stressing that if th is co u ld be do ne, it wou ld be a s us ta ine d . a ca ta lys t fo r increased food produdio n in the state. as we ll as in boosting the interes t o f peop le, es peciall y jobless yo uths il \ fanning .
~---,-::_----~----- .~~
.' , ~J;Ra~~~i ~~R~~t ~~t~,~gen~@~fQr" ~gricult~re mi,nt~t~r\
w;:;
the coming on bo.1rd of the new minister of Ag riculture nnd Rural [)e"e!o pment, Dr Ayod ~i Ad c:sina and with the d e«cnnination of the Federal Minis try of Agricul ture under the new minister to rescue the nation "'griadtu rnl sector by making sure tha t practising fa nners were giving a voice nnd allow to occupy the necessary .sea l in the. nation's .1griruJlure vehicle a profcs50r of agriculture has set an agenda fo r him to perfo rm and b ri ng foods o n the ta bles o f N igerians. ProfcssorBoyc;o Adefuye, who is based in the Uni ted Stales o f Ame rica, in an internet discussion with Tribune Agriru/lure said he decided to ad like a prophe t aga in,. reminding the new minister of the need to tum around the important sedor, as wcll as package programmes that would make agriculture to take its righlfuJ position in the nation's eronomy. According 10 the don at the Texas College, Tyler. US A. for Nigeria to achiC\~ its food security prograouJ)e as highlighted by the Federal Gove rn me nt. certa in thi ngs must be do ne by the present governmen t ins lead of IIying 10 beat around the bush. He explained that although the re wou ld be many programmes for lhe minis te r to i mp le m e n t in o rd e r 10 revamp the na tio n's agrirultural sector, the Mi nis te r s ho uld focus o n p racticable solutionsl agenda that foods available o n the ta bles
security needs by granting them access ",';thou t n:.-gards to political party affiliation or crop preference of govcnment a gencies. . . Govenunent .lgencies should deal with farmers on indi vidual basis when provid ing resources rather than employing o ne--si:z.e-fits-al\ approach. According to ProCessor Ade[uye, this became imperative because the needs of Qllcgorises of fanners differ. - Innovalio ns and o lhe r tech nologies. shou ld be adopted from othe r arms such as landscaping and adapted to ag ri ru ltu raJ produd ion_ Such techno logies include; riding lawn mowers. grass Irimmers. etc. Fann-to-m arket roads sho uld be rehab ilitated ilnd whe re there is no road,. such should be constructed to help (anners marlcet their agricultural prOOuC'CS. *Mo re produce markets, the d on furthe r asserted, sho uld be esbblishcd by the governmen t imd pri vate individuals. -The don a lso emphasised that he would wa nt the governmen t to make it rompulsOI), for velUcie importers (whether new or used) to import tractors as a certain percenmge (say 5 per Ct.'nt) of their total imports to make tractors available for farmers' use in the counby.
· Prof Boyejo Adefuye o f N igerians. The professor o r rural sociology said though he h..,d pre" iously highlighted some solutions to the problems of agrirulture in thecounby evt!Jl berore the minister assumed office. he, however, said the summary of his policy recomrnendatiOl\!l for the Nigerian government are presented below. h don said if the recommendations are we ll sludied apd applied. it would go a long way in providing a lasting solution 10 the problems militating against the development of ag:riculture in Nigeria. - Local fanners !hoold be helped to actualise their food.
eFringe lands in the urban areas should be optroed up for pal1'-time gardens and urban fa""",,, • There is the need to embark on what he Cliled a:x::;ASHU project. This according to Ule don is a community Bllsed Co.lt and Sheep Hokling Units. ax:;ASHU. he further explained. shouJd be established in all the local gtn-emmerlt areas in order to allow urban and rural d welJefs to partidparein meaningful and sustainable mrol production